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A series of education programmes on Abstract Expressionism will be launched at the Hong Kong Museum of Art in April to tie in with the upcoming exhibition, "The Art of Mark Rothko: Selections from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C."
Running from March 31 to June 4, the exhibition will feature 27 representative works by Mark Rothko (1903-1970), one of the leading masters of the abstract expressionist movement.
Rothko experienced childhood loss and unresolved grief, leading him to recurrent depression. Bouts of anger ruined his intimate relationship and made him difficult in trusting male authority figures. All these experiences influenced his artistic creation. During a lecture "Behind the Paintings: The Unconscious Mind of Mark Rothko" to be held on April 22, Dr Tsang Fan Kwong, an artist and doctor, who specialises in psychiatry, will offer insights to understand Rothko's creativity and behavioural characteristics by exploring the artist's unconscious determinants.
Two lectures, "Meaning from Materials: The Paintings of Mark Rothko" to be conducted by the Senior Conservator of Modern Paintings, the National Gallery of Art, Mr Jay Krueger, on April 1, and the "Colour Navigation: Exploring the Unknown Space of Mark Rothko" to be hosted by the Associate Professor of the Fine Arts Department, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Professor Lui Chun-kwong, on April 8, will introduce the works of Rothko from the materials and colour he used.
The lectures will be held at the Lecture Hall of Museum of Art at 2.30pm. Admission is free and 150 seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The "Meaning from Materials" will be conducted in English, while the other two lectures will be in Cantonese.
In addition, a series of video programmes featuring Abstract Expressionism will be held at the Lecture Hall on every Wednesday and Sunday in April. On April 2 and 5, the "Abstract Expressionism" will introduce the origins of Abstract Expressionism and its development in America by looking at paintings by De Kooning, Rothko, Pollock and Newman. On April 9 and 12, "Rothko: An Abstract Humanist" will feature paintings from his different periods and first-hand descriptions of his milieu, presenting an overview of Rothko and his art.
On April 16 and 19, "Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko" will focus on the artistic development of Pollock and Rothko. On April 23 and 26, the "Keys to Appreciating Abstract Art" will navigate an approach to abstract art and its appreciation through a deconstruction of Pollock's "Summertime: Number 9A".
Admission for the video programmes is free and 150 seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The programmes on "Abstract Expressionism" will be in Cantonese, while the other video programmes will be in English. For details, please call 2734 2156/2734 2157.
The Museum of Art is located at 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. It opens from 10am to 6pm daily and is closed on Thursdays except public holidays. Admission is $10 and a half-price concession is available to full-time students, senior citizens and people with disabilities. Admission is free on Wednesdays.
For enquiries, call 2721 0116 or visit the Museum of Art's website at http://hk.art.museum/.
Ends/Friday, March 24, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:00
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